FTSE follows Wall Street on the slide
London’s leading shares tumbled into negative territory today, taking a lead from the sombre mood on Wall Street to start the new month on the back foot.
A clutch of positive economic reports failed to inject life into the FTSE 100 Index which finished the session down by 45.9 points at 3880.1.
After clocking up its best monthly gain since September 1997, the blue chip index failed to match up to its recent performances.
April saw the index rally 8.6% – although most of that positive sentiment has long since disappeared as relief over Iraq gives way to concerns about the economy and earnings.
Signs of much-needed improvement in the manufacturing sector and more evidence of a pick-up in retail sales did nothing to lift the benchmark index out of the red.
The lacklustre performance echoed sentiment across the Atlantic where the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending its overnight losses after opening today.
